Life's Next Chapter (3 page)

I smile and laugh. “So, now I’m sunshine. Much better than the last time we saw each other and you thought I was a man, eh Mr. Ashton?” I tease as I lean my hip against the still open door.

“You do look good, Dr. Caldwell, all smiles and sunshine.” He winks at me.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Ashton. I do clean up pretty well and can look like a lady from time to time.” I follow his gaze and look down at my ruffled pink tank top, white denim shorts, and silver strappy sandals. He just stares, giving me the biggest grin. “What can I do for you this Saturday afternoon? As you can hear, my girls are strapped in the truck, and we’re late to a friend’s house.”

“Brody needed more measurements of the stable. Do you mind?” He asks just as my girls scream for me.

Knowing one did something to the other, I turn towards my truck, replying, “No, I don’t mind. Just close the main gate when you leave. I’m sorry, but I can’t stay, I really need to get going.”

Reaching into the middle console, he pulls out his measuring tape giving me a better look at his right arm. I discover why he wore a long sleeve shirt for our first meeting. Dressed in khaki shorts and short-sleeve navy blue V-neck reveals a sleeve tattoo.
Hot Damn!
I’m in trouble!
“I won’t stay long,” he says, shutting his door.

I force myself to turn and walk back to my truck. I can’t look at him anymore. I’m so happy when I realize I left the truck on with the air conditioner blasting because I need to cool off, pronto. When I open the driver’s door to hop in, I can feel him standing behind me and my senses kick in to over drive. I can smell him, and he smells ‘woodsy’. I feel the effect of him on my body, which makes the hairs on my neck stand straight up. I hear him breathing, and I can almost sense how he would taste. He holds the door open for me, like a gentleman should. I pull myself up and look at him. Locating the connection between my brain and my mouth, I utter the words, “Have a good day, Mr. Ashton.” He pulls the seatbelt out, handing me the buckle.

“Drive safe. See you Tuesday, Kate. Oh, and it’s Luke. Calling me ‘Mr. Ashton’ makes me feel like my father,” he says, shutting the door. I push the button for the window to slide down. He’s still standing there with his hands on his very lean hips, his broad shoulders are squared and stiff, his sunglasses rest on top of his head, and he is giving me the smile that makes everything below my belly button tingle.

“See you Tuesday, Luke,” I utter softly. With that, I hit the up button for my window, flip the air vents towards me, and drive like a bat out of hell to Beth’s house.

Once I release the girls from their car seats, they take off for the backyard. I grab the dishes of food from the front seat and head into the house. Walking into the kitchen, I’m greeted by Beth, chopping vegetables. “I didn’t think you were going to show up—what’s wrong with you?” Beth looks at me as if something terrible has happened. Putting the knife down, she walks to me, pulling me in for a hug. I place my hands on her growing belly and talk to the baby.

“How’s my baby Leonardo doing today? Auntie Katie loves you!” Beth smacks me in the forehead.

“Will you stop calling him Leonardo? For God’s sake, just call the baby…baby. You know she could be a girl, and you calling her Leonardo and a ‘him’ is going to give her identity issues.” She turns around towards the counter in a huff.

Grabbing a carrot, I lean against the counter. “Come on, it has to be a boy, we need the fourth ninja turtle. Then next Halloween, we’ll have the four of them dress up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Just think how adorable that would be.” Crunching the carrot, I wink at her. She raises the knife to me.

“I have an idea, how about
you
get your ass pregnant,
you
have the baby boy, and we’ll include him in the gang.” She gives me her crooked smirk.

“You’re so funny. Not happening, I’m never having any more babies. The baby factory is closed. I can barely parent the two I have.” Nudging her in the shoulder. I say, “Maybe we can get Ella to have a baby Leonardo.”

On cue, Ella walks into the kitchen. “What’s a baby Leonardo?” She looks at us as if we have two heads.

“Remember when I had the ultrasound of the boys, Kate called them three of the ninja turtles? Well, she keeps calling this baby Leonardo. I told her to knock it off because it could be a girl. She wants a fourth ninja turtle, so I told her to have her own. She says she isn’t, but that you should have a baby Leonardo.” Beth quickly rambles in her lawyer tone.

“I hope we are having a baby Leonardo.” Ella whispers to us, as she digs in the fridge for juice boxes.

“Are you pregnant, Ella?” Beth asks her.

“I wasn’t going to say anything until we saw the doctor, but yes, as of yesterday the home pregnancy test said I was.” Ella says quietly while making sure no one else is within earshot to hear.

“OH MY GOD! EL BELL! You’re going to have a baby!” I shout from across the room.

“Jesus Christ, Kate. I don’t want anyone to know, yet. I promised Chris I wouldn’t say anything until we had confirmation from the doctor.”

I look at her sheepishly. “Sorry, babe.” I move to her and wrap my arms around her in a huge hug. My two best friends are going to be mommies again. The three of us stand in the kitchen hugging one another.

Beth pulls back from the hug, turning to me, “Kate, you never answered my question. Why did you look so flustered when you walked in?”

Peeling the lids off the Tupperware, I gush, “I met my new contractor. His name is Luke, and he is fucking gorgeous. The girls call him a beast. He’s got to be a foot taller than me, and his muscles are huge. Today, when he stopped by, I discovered he has this beautiful sleeve tattoo.” Beth and Ella stare, their jaws dropping to the floor. “What? I can gawk, and have dirty thoughts about a very hot man. I’m the single one here, remember.”

“If he is a contractor for Brody, then did you meet him when he did your house?” asks Ella while setting the juice boxes down on the counter.

“You know, I don’t think he worked for Brody then. I would remember that god!”

Jacob comes strolling into the kitchen and walks behind Beth, placing his hands on her belly as he gives her a hug. He’s fucking romantic. I can only hope I find a guy that’s that into me. Looking back, my marriage to Keith was a total joke. That man never loved me and only stayed because he knocked me up.

“Are you ladies almost done in here? The hot dogs and burgers are done.” Jacob kisses Beth on the lips, pats her butt, and grabs the juice boxes from Ella.

“Babe, everything’s ready. Tell Chris and Mike to get the kids out of the pool, and have Olivia come and help us get these dishes outside. Thanks.” She blows him a kiss as he heads back outside.

GAH! They are sickening to watch, way too lovey-dovey. “Do you two need a room? Because I’ll be more than happy to watch Mikey, Donny, and Ralphy while you two go at it.” I cackle knowing it drives her crazy when I call her boys by the ninja turtles, but come on, it’s a classic.

“KATE, knock that shit off!” she yells, throwing a bag of potato chips at me.

“You know I love those boys. Just remember who put the idea in my head.” I singsong to her as I walk to the patio.

Placing the chips and salad on the table, I continue on to the kiddie table to bestow kisses on all the kiddos. The kid’s table is going to surpass us adults soon. Once the kids are situated with their food and drinks, the adults take our seats at the table. This year, I feel like I should be sitting at the kiddie table. The large square table has two chairs to each side, and this year, the chair next to me holds all the pool towels.

“Hey, Kate, what do you say after lunch, you and I go on the Jet Skis? These chickens next to me won’t come. That leaves only you,” Jacob says pointing his fork at me.

“Why won’t you guys go?” I ask, pointing my own fork at Chris and Mike.

“I just don’t like lake water, you have no idea what is lurking in that Petri dish of bacteria.” I laugh at Chris’s bacteria phobia.

“You’re such a nerd. Goodness, Chris, we aren’t swimming in a toilet. Your excuse?” I mutter and squint my eyes to Mike.

“If I get on that thing, I will be sore for days. Not worth it.”

I fall back in my chair, dying with laughter. “Aw, poor girls, do you need a tampon?” Singling Chris out, “And, do you need some Midol? You two are pussies!” Jacob is just laughing hysterically. I look to the ladies, but they don’t seem impressed.

“Fuck, Kate, when did you become such a prick?” Chris whines. It’s obvious he isn’t amused by my sarcasm.

“I’m became a prick, when my dickhead of a husband cheated and left his family. Now I’m left being both mother
and
father, since my girls don’t have a decent one. So, you just witnessed my male tendencies. I apologize for being a prick.”

My short tirade leaves the rest of the meal in silence. Finally, Ella and Olivia clear the table, while the fathers clear the kiddie table. As I am about to get up and help clear the table, Beth grabs me by the wrist. “You don’t have to put up a front with me. I see you’re hurt, what’s wrong?” I look at her hand, still around my wrist and her other hand on her baby bump. Beth is glowing, in fact she’s been glowing for over a year now. For over a year, I’ve felt like my soul is dying. It hurts to breathe sometimes. She doesn’t understand the hole created when the man you loved, or at least you thought you loved, takes all your trust, hopes, dreams, faith, and love, and tears them to shreds as if nothing ever mattered to him.

“Not the time or place, Bethy-baby. We’ll talk, I promise.” I lean down to kiss the top of her head.

I grab the girls and lotion them up with more sunscreen, and once I get their water wings back on, I give them the okay to go back in the pool.

“You ready, Kate?” Jacob says as he puts the boys in their water wings.

“I just need to change, give me a second.” Picking up my bag, I head for the bathroom to change. I change into my purple bikini and pull my white shorts on over it. Heading out to the dock I see Jacob talking to some guys in a boat. Once my feet hit the dock ramp, the boat takes off. “Which one do I take?” I ask, stopping at Jacob’s side.

“You pick, they’re both the same model, just the red one is Beth’s, if you want hers.”

“Oooh, I like red. You know I have a thing for red.” I give him a wink.

“You and I both, Kate.” He chuckles to me. Within minutes, we’re on the Jet Skis. Jacob pulls up next to me before we cruise away. “Be careful of the boaters, most of them are fishing.” I nod, acknowledging I heard him before I speed off and fly over the ripples in the lake. Looking over my shoulder, I see Jacob trying to catch up. I burst out laughing, and continue on, laughing so hard at the look on his face. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.

AFTER OUR MEETING on Thursday, I haven’t stopped thinking about Kate. Just looking at her, makes me want to fall to my knees and beg for her attention. She’s fucking beautiful. Her spitfire personality creates images of her all hot and wild while fucking me. This morning, before heading to Brody’s, I pretended I needed to take more measurements, just so I could see her again. Tuesday is too long to wait to see that sexy woman.

I was invited to Brody’s house for some fishing, beers, and dinner. We’re getting our gear loaded on the boat when Brody sees his neighbor and hollers, “Let’s go! I see Jacob. I need to ask him something.”

“Bro, you know you can help me load this shit, too.” Once the boat is loaded, we take off towards the dock where Brody’s neighbor, Jacob, is standing.

“Jacob, what’s up?” Brody asks as he quiets the engine.

“Not much, man, just having a cook out with the family. How are you?”

“Doing good. This is my cousin, Luke, and you know my brother, Nick.” Jacob waves to us.

“Hey there, nice to meet you.”

“Jacob, Amanda is a no go on the new birth control, so I need the number to the urologist you mentioned.” Raising my fist to my mouth, I bite into it, laughing to myself. Looking over at Nick, he looks ready to burst from holding in his laugh, too. It cracks us up to see Brody’s wife pull him along by his balls. Not for long, as it looks like he will be getting them snipped. Laughing my ass off, I can’t believe he even had the balls to say this to his neighbor in front of us. We see a beautiful blond walk towards the dock, and Brody cuts the conversations short. “Well, I’ll let you go. Have fun, Jacob, and I look forward to your email.” With that the engine is roaring back to life. Nick and I wave to Jacob as we head to the middle of the lake.